Last Minute Gifts
by aflightoffancy
Summary: Logan asks Max and Alec to break into a high security facility on Christmas day, but it's not as easy as it should be… MA.


**Last Minute Gifts**

DA always sneaks up on me at this time of year. Time for ye olde Christmas one-shot. So… here we go!

Summary: Logan asks Max and Alec to break into a high security facility on Christmas day, but it's not as easy as it should be… MA.

* * *

"But… it's Christmas." Max just stared at Logan in disbelief.

"I know that, Max," Logan answered patiently. "That's why it's the perfect time to do this. The employees at the plant will all be gone for the holiday. They'll only leave behind the bare minimum security. It'll be the easiest way to get this done."

"But… it's Christmas," she said again.

It was the first Christmas she and all the other Transgenics would be spending together in Terminal City. Well, second technically, but they'd spent the first one holed up in TC just hoping not to be dragged out, or blown to smithereens. After the Jam Pony fiasco, everything had been beyond tense, but through hard work, a ton of PR on Alec's part, and months of negotiations, things had slowly gotten better… or at least less terrifying and potentially deadly.

Not that Logan knew much about what was happening in TC these days. The hand-holding bit of regression had quickly proven to be a mistake. Logan had started to get sick from the toxins and been forced to leave TC almost immediately. He'd headed back to Joshua's old house, where they were now. It had been the umpteenth, and this time final, reminder of just how much their lives didn't seem to work together. They still saw each other occasionally, usually on days like today where he wanted something, but that was about it.

"Yes, Max, it's Christmas, but I need your help. The people at this facility are using food additives that could potentially kill thousands. I need proof."

Max just sighed. She couldn't exactly refuse when he said things like that. She wanted to, though. It wasn't as if she had nothing else to do. It was a full time job keeping them in food, clothing, shelter, and most importantly, not shot on sight.

"What about Asha? The S1W already turn you down?"

Logan shifted in discomfort. "She's… working on another project. I can't ask her to do this one."

"Ok." Max could see that was a touchy subject and he didn't exactly want to discuss it, so she let it go. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to get in, and upload this." He set a flash drive down on the table and backed up so there was no chance she'd touch him when she took it. "It's a worm that will give me access to their system. I'll be able to get all the proof I need as well as keep an eye on anything else they might try."

"That's it?"

"Well…" He pulled out a set of plans for a facility that looked like a fortress. He glanced at her and grimaced. "The computer I need you to access will be in a guarded section of the plant, and the rooms have a sophisticated security system."

"Great," she said. "Meaning I'm going to need help."

Max pulled out her phone. Alec was going to make her pay for this.

* * *

Max looked at the car sitting in front of Logan's house, or rather Joshua's old house. It was an ancient, rusted out hulk that she doubted would last long enough to get them to the city limits, let alone to the processing plant.

Thanks to their status as dangerous freaks who could go psycho at any moment, they were not allowed to leave TC without special permission, and they certainly weren't allowed through any of the Sector Police checkpoints. To get out of Seattle, Logan was going to have to drive them out.

"You've got to be kidding," Alec said. He looked up at Logan and then at her. "Seriously?"

"What?" she asked. "You afraid of the dark?"

Truth be told, she wasn't any happier about it, but she wasn't going to tell _him_ that.

"You think I'm going to ride in the trunk of this thing?" he demanded. "I may be mentally unstable, but I'm not stupid."

"It's just to get us through the checkpoints," Max said. "Don't be a baby. Once we're out of the city, we'll move up front."

Alec scowled. "We're trained assassins, Max. I think we can manage to sneak out of town."

She shrugged. "That'll take time. We do this, we can be out of town in under an hour, give or take." She stood in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. "Joshua made eggnog, and if this takes too long, it'll all be gone and I will hold you personally responsible. So if someone would quit whining and get in the stupid trunk, we can get this over with."

Alec looked from Max to the open trunk and back again, and for some reason she got the impression that it was almost a deal breaker. He really didn't want to get in the trunk, which was just odd. She'd seen him crawl in and out of all sorts of tight places. She'd been stuck in some with him. She knew he wasn't claustrophobic.

Finally, Alec gritted his teeth, and shrugged his shoulders as if to release the tension gathering there. He slapped on a casual expression, but Max knew him too well now. She knew how fake it was.

"Alec?" she asked uncertainly.

He clapped his hands. "Let's get this done." Almost as if marching into battle, he stalked toward the trunk and levered himself inside. He turned onto his side and held out a hand to help her.

Max paused, worried by his blank expression. She glanced at Logan who just shrugged.

"Come on, Max," Alec ordered, his tone clipped. "I don't want to be in here any longer than I have to."

That, she could tell, was definitely the truth. Max took his hand and climbed in awkwardly. Her choices were either to face Alec, or to snuggle in with her back to him. Both positions had their issues, but she decided that facing him would be more uncomfortable in the long run. Alec held out his arms, and she had no choice but to back into him. She rested her head on his outstretched arm, and jumped involuntarily when his other hand landed on her hip.

"Don't try anything," she bit out.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, and his tone said that was the truth as well. Something was definitely wrong. Alec was all about pushing her boundaries, especially lately.

"Ready?" Logan asked. He'd stepped up to the car and had a hand on the trunk lid, ready to close it.

"Alec?" she said, rather than answer.

"Let's go already," he snapped.

Logan only nodded and closed the trunk, plunging them into darkness except for a bit of light seeping in thanks to the spots where the rust had thinned out the Buick's old steel body. He started the car, and they lurched into motion. Max braced her knee against the front of the compartment to keep from moving too much, especially with Alec's weight behind her.

The longer they drove, the more Max expected Alec to talk. He always talked, especially when he was bored. He didn't, however.

It was a big trunk, but it certainly wasn't roomy enough for two adults to stretch out, or even to lie scrunched up comfortably. She could feel him pressed to her back, his bent knees fitting behind hers, and the tension in his muscles was enough to make her twitchy.

"What's up with you?" she demanded.

"Nothing." She felt his breath against her neck as he forced himself to relax.

"I thought we were past this kind of thing." She kept her voice even, only a hint of accusation sneaking in. She and Alec had come a long way since their Manticore days. Their lives had relied on each other too often. They had both worked too hard to keep them all safe and even thriving.

Beyond that, things had changed lately. She'd noticed him looking at her differently. She'd noticed... well... him.

"_We're coming up to a checkpoint_," Logan called from the front, and Max had to refrain from asking more questions. They both remained silent as Logan pulled to a halt and they heard him roll down the window and hand over his forged papers to get through. Someone thumped a hand against the trunk and Alec not only flinched, he involuntarily pulled her close. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his head to hers.

Max brought her hands up to cover his. Alec's reaction wasn't awkward. It was confusing and, in a way, terrifying. Alec didn't show worry or fear, not without good reason. Day in and day out, she relied on his cool, panic-free reactions.

They stayed quiet until they were through the checkpoint. Alec's hold on her lessened slightly, but he didn't release her.

"I don't like trunks," he finally said.

"Yeah. I picked up on that." When he didn't say anything else, she gently asked, "You wanna tell me what happened?"

She waited, long enough she thought he wasn't going to say anything, but finally he drew in a shuddering breath. "We were on a mission. X5-429 and I were ambushed." His tone was concise, detached, like he was giving a report to his Manticore bosses. "They shot us and threw us in the trunk of a car. They drove us to a dump and left it." He pulled her a bit closer and she doubted he even knew what he was doing. "429 died not long after they threw us in there. One of the bullets had hit my spine and I couldn't move. It took a couple of days for my body to repair enough of the damage that I could move and get out of the trunk."

"You were locked in a trunk with a dead body?" she asked, appalled.

"Heat wave didn't help," he said absently, too absently, like he was zoning out.

Max considered her options and finally ordered herself to get over it. She wasn't the one who'd been locked in a sweltering trunk with a dead partner. She twisted in Alec's arms. She couldn't see him well, but she could feel his breath against her cheek.

"Not much longer," she said. "We've got to get through a couple of checkpoints and then we'll be out of town and we can move up front."

"I'm good," he said, barely noting that she'd moved. He really should have. There wasn't enough space and turning to face him had required tangling her legs with his.

His hands were clenched in her shirt at her back. Max put her face directly in line with his. "You with me?" she asked, hardening her tone. "I need your A game here, Alec. I mean it. I don't have time for you to freak out."

It took a few seconds, but it appeared to work. Alec blinked in the dimness and his eyes seemed to focus on her. "Your compassion is overwhelming," he finally said.

"Manticore had it genetically removed. Nothing I can do at this point." She gentled the words, however, by running a hand over his arm. "Just a little bit longer."

He nodded, but didn't say anything else, which might as well have been shouting how bothered he was. Max tried to imagine what it must have been like. He'd been paralyzed, locked in a dark enclosed place, stuffy, sweltering heat mixing with the stench of a freshly decaying body that used to be a co-worker.

Yeah. She wouldn't want any reminders of that either.

They made it through two more checkpoints without any trouble. Alec seemed to make it through by almost shutting down, and Max decided not to force him back to the present again. If the crap hit the fan, she'd get him moving. He wasn't totally unaware, she knew. His hands were still warm at her back, worrying at the fabric in agitation.

Finally, they made it through the last checkpoint leading out of Seattle. Logan drove for several more minutes and then pulled over. Max heard him come around the car and the scratch of the key as he unlocked the trunk. Alec burst into motion, climbing over her and nearly falling in his desperate need to get out of the trunk. He bent over with his hands on his knees, forcing himself to breathe evenly.

Logan was looking at him in shock. He glanced at Max who pulled herself out of the trunk more slowly and shook her head to tell him not to ask.

"Right," she said, "how far to this place?"

"Not far," he replied. "It's only a few miles. They deliberately built it outside the town limits so they wouldn't have to go by any guidelines."

"Nice."

"They were already planning on using unhygienic practices and chemical processes that wouldn't be government approved. This way there was no local oversight either."

"What about the Feds?" Max asked. "You try ratting these people out to them?" Since Logan had sprung this on them at the last second, she hadn't really gone into the details.

Logan just shook his head. "You know how things are as well as I do."

Max nodded and sighed. Since the Pulse, getting the Feds to do more than the bare minimum was almost impossible. They just didn't have the money or the manpower.

Out of the corner of her eye, Max had been watching as Alec straightened, shrugged the tension from his shoulders, and took a deep steadying breath. "Let's get this show on the road then, kiddies. Max wants her eggnog and we'd better hurry. I could only rustle up so many eggs."

Alec climbed into the back seat of the old rust bucket, leaving Max to take the passenger seat beside Logan. It wasn't necessary. They'd been split up for over a year now, and she knew he and Asha had been seeing each other. Maybe Alec hadn't done it for her though. Maybe he'd needed some space to get himself back together. Looking back at him, she saw him rubbing his nose, and she wondered if he was smelling something else, a scent that haunted him long after he'd made it out of that trunk.

She'd been thinking about getting him a Christmas present, and oh what a gift she'd given him.

* * *

"Logan is getting coal in his stocking," Alec hissed. "I am not kidding. If I have to find a mine and dig it out myself, he is getting coal. And then I'm going to throw it at his head."

"Shut up. Are you trying to get us caught?"

"Nope. Logan did that all on his own. It's Christmas," he said in a mocking singsong. "There won't be nearly as many guards. It'll be easy."

Max had to agree although she kept it to herself. They'd managed to sneak into the facility, but if this was fewer guards, then she'd hate to see what it was like on a normal day. At the moment, they were hiding in a utility closet waiting for a pair of guards to leave. The two men were standing just down the hall, chatting about politics, and showed no signs of moving.

Sadly, this was her and Alec's third round of hiding. They'd hidden in a bathroom, a small office, and now this closet. Despite the close quarters, Alec didn't seem bothered. It was apparently just being locked in a trunk again that set him off. His level of annoyance might be higher though after what happened earlier. He wasn't happy, and neither was she.

"Christmas, Max. Christmas Day, and what are we doing? We're hiding in a closet from two guys-"

Max clapped her hand over his mouth. The guards must have heard some of Alec's ranting because they were headed their way. She pushed Alec back into the shadows behind the heating ductwork that took up most of the closet.

Alec huffed and shook her hand off. He got the picture though and otherwise remained silent and still. His hands had settled at her hips and she could feel the warm imprint of his fingers through the cloth of her shirt. They were pressed close, chest to chest. She looked up at him and their eyes met.

Alec was looking down at her, but there was no mischievous twinkle in his eye. As had happened all too often lately, he was looking at her with an entirely different expression on his face.

Interest. Or worse. Need. Hunger. Maybe that was better, not worse?

Either way, it sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. Alec felt it, and raised an eyebrow. Now that hint of mischief made an appearance. Those fingers resting on her hips tightened just slightly, and he brushed his thumbs back and forth to let her know he knew exactly what he was doing.

Max couldn't look at him anymore, afraid of what she might do, afraid he would see what was going on her head. She dropped her chin and rested her forehead against his chest. She might be too scared to look at him, but she didn't want to pull away either. It simply felt too good having him close.

Alec brought one hand up and brushed it over her hair. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

Max remained silent. The two guards were just outside the door. She could hear them discussing whether or not they'd actually heard something, or if they'd just imagined it.

Alec didn't do anything else. He stayed very still except for that one hand at her hip, his thumb brushing back and forth. The other hand slipped from her hair to rest at the nape of her neck, his warm fingers like a brand against her skin.

It had been happening like this for weeks. Alec didn't push her, but he did take every opportunity when it arrived. He made sure she didn't forget he was interested, maybe more than interested. Logan was definitely in her rear view mirror, but Alec seemed to know that if anything was going to happen, it had to be on her terms. Maybe he was smarter than he looked. At this point, he knew her too well and it made it harder and harder to step away from him.

But that begged the question. Why did she still want to?

The guards were moving away. Now all she and Alec had to do was get to the right room, make it through all the other security measures, plug in the stupid flash drive, and get back out.

First though, she was going to have to let go of him. At some point, her own hands had betrayed her. One was pressed flat against his chest, while the other was fisted in the shirt at his back. The muscles in her arm were taught, pressing him closer to her.

"This is stupid," Max whispered. She could admit, to herself at least, what she really meant was _she_ was being stupid. What was it holding her back? Yeah, she was a child of Manticore, which meant she had a seriously skewed view of human interactions, but she'd also learned what friendship, caring and patience looked like from people like Cindy and Logan.

When it came down to it, Max just had to be brave, and that was the hard part, the terrifying part. When it came to a fight, she was fearless. Her heart? Not so much. She'd spent almost her whole life hiding. With Logan, she'd opened up, but even then there were parts of her past she couldn't share. Alec though… He understood. If anything, he'd done worse, lived through and survived worse, and still he looked at her like she was… special. Not just special, but special to _him_.

Max turned her head and rested her cheek against his chest, enjoying the thump-thump of his heart in her ear.

"Wow." She heard and felt a laugh rumble deep in his chest. "I thought I was going to have to break out the mistletoe. I didn't know I just needed to get us locked in a closet again."

"Not locked," she said.

"Right." He drew in a deep breath and she both heard and felt it, wrapped around him as she was. "You ready to get this done?"

Max nodded and stepped back, immediately feeling cold. She looked up at him, and their eyes met. "Ready."

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alec crouched down beside Max, hiding behind one of the company vehicles outside the plant. "Somehow we can't get bread and milk anymore, but nobody is ever short of guns or bullets!"

"Stop _talking_!" Max hissed.

"Why?" Alec demanded. "They know exactly where we are!"

They were almost completely pinned and he saw Max flinch when a bullet hit close enough to ruffle her hair. He desperately scanned the fence line for a way out. The way he figured it, they had maybe two minutes before the guards had enough reinforcements to surround them completely.

He and Max had managed after hours of work to get into the server room and upload Logan's program that would give him backdoor access to the plant's computer system. Unfortunately, the return trip out of the plant had proven to be just as difficult as the job to get in. The next time Logan assured him it was an easy job, Alec was going to remind him of this little fiasco.

"You know what I said about coal? I'm not just going to chuck it at Logan's head. Oh, no. I'm going to shove it-"

Alec stopped abruptly and pointed. Max followed his line of vision and nodded her agreement. He'd seen a place where they could scoot under the fence and head into the trees. He knew once they were in the woods they could easily lose their pursuers. The job had taken so long, it was dark out, and that would be to their advantage as well.

"Ladies first," Alec said, and rose to lay down covering fire.

Max quickly disappeared from his side. He glanced her way just long enough to see she was under the fence and bolted after her. She was holding the edge up and it gave him a few extra inches to slide beneath without having to slow down.

Max helped him stand and together they blurred into the trees. The guards had no chance to keep up. Alec knew they would be getting into their vehicles though to begin searching the area. He and Max would have to meet Logan at the secondary rendezvous point that they'd set up in case something just like this happened. Logan was monitoring the guards' radio frequency. He would know what was happening and drive to the secondary pickup point.

It took twenty minutes of running, but they arrived without incident. He and Max both stopped just inside the tree line to make sure it was safe. They crouched side by side, watching and listening, but there was no sign of the guards or anyone else for that matter.

"All I wanted was a nice, quiet, eggnog-filled Christmas, Max. Was that too much to ask?"

"There are worse things in the world," Max said, and she sounded so tired that Alec did a double take.

"What's wrong?"

Max grimaced. "I… When I was running for the fence, I took a round."

"You've been _shot_?"

"I'll make it," she said forcefully. "We've just got to get out of here first."

"Where?" he demanded.

"We don't have time for this." She pointed and Alec turned to see Logan pulling up in the piece of crap Buick he'd borrowed for this expedition. "There's Logan," Max said. "We'll be back in Terminal City before you know it and I can get it taken care of."

Logan pulled the old Buick up at the side of the road and waited. Max stepped out of the tree line, and Alec stayed right beside her, scanning her for signs of the wound, but he just couldn't tell in the dark.

Logan got out of the driver's side and walked to meet them. "So I guess it didn't go that well?" he stated the obvious.

"No," Max said, "Let's get going before one of their security people spots us."

"What she meant to say was she's been shot. Let's go."

Logan's eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me," Alec said. "Get back in the car."

"It'll hold," Max assured him. "Just get us back."

Logan hurried to the trunk and opened it. "Get in. I've already seen their guards driving around. If they see you two up front, we'll get stopped."

Max glanced at him and he knew she was waiting to see if he was going to freak out again. Truth be told, the idea of getting back in that trunk made him want to throw up, but he didn't have time for his issues right now. Max was hurt and that took priority.

Alec stared at the gaping black hole that was the trunk and forced himself into motion. He stalked forward and practically threw himself in. He quickly turned on his side and reached out to help Max.

Max climbed in with less than her normal grace, this time facing Alec, and Logan didn't even wait for her to get situated before he slammed the trunk closed. He hurried to the front and the car pulled away fast enough that Max was shoved up against the wall of the trunk.

"Got kind of a lead foot, doesn't he?" Alec grumbled.

"You wanted to be back in time for the party," Max countered.

"Well, that ship has definitely sailed. It's bound to be over at this point." He gritted his teeth unhappily as the scent of blood began to fill their small compartment. "Now, where are you hit?"

"Lower back, right side," she answered tightly.

Alec reached to her back and immediately felt the sticky warmth of blood coating his hand. He pulled off his jacket, banging his hand against the trunk lid as he tried to move in the cramped, dark space. He wadded up the jacket, shoved it against the wound, and then pushed at Max's arm to tell her to lie flat, putting extra pressure on it. She turned and he helped her get more comfortable, although that was nearly impossible.

"That ok?" he asked.

"Good enough. Not like we have a choice."

"We could get out of here and sneak into the city ourselves," he suggested. He knew it was self-serving, but his skin was already crawling. The scent of blood was wrapping around him and he wanted out of the trunk so badly he could hardly stand it.

Memories assaulted him of those two days he'd been locked in the trunk, frantic to get out, yet paralyzed from the neck down. He'd been terrified that his handlers would never find him, and that the damage to his spine was permanent. He'd been certain he would stay there, locked in the trunk, locked in his own body, waiting for starvation or dehydration to kill him while 429's body rotted beside him. The bugs had found their way through the cracks to the corpse and at that point, Alec had cursed Manticore and every scientist who'd had a hand in his creation.

"I don't…" Max's tentative words brought him back to the present. "I don't think I'd make it." She sounded embarrassed, ashamed even, by her weakness.

"Ok," he said quickly. "Just hang on. We'll be back as soon as we can."

The vehicle slowed as they approached the main checkpoint leading into Seattle. It was late and the line shouldn't be too long, but still, any delay made Max's situation that much worse.

Alec kept himself ready as they stopped and started, inching closer to the gate. If the Sector Police had a dog, this could all be over. It would smell the blood and alert them that something was wrong.

They reached the front of the line and Logan rolled down his window to hand over his papers. He made small talk, and complained about having to work on Christmas. It seemed to take forever, but eventually the cop handed the papers back and let them through.

"About time," Alec grumbled. "Max?"

There was no answer, and his heart began to thump painfully in his chest.

"Max, can you hear me?"

Alec leaned closer and he could feel her breath against his cheek, shallow though it was.

"_How's it going back there_?" Logan called, his voice muffled by the seat cushions.

"Not good! Drive faster!" Alec ordered. He felt beneath Max and the jacket was soaked. "Max, Max," he said. "Always have to do everything the hard way."

She was starting to shiver and Alec's only option was to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. She was shocky and her body temp was dropping and there wasn't a single thing he could do to help her until they got back to TC.

"Hang on, Max. You have to stay with me, ok?"

"You can't," when she spoke Alec's heart did a little flip, "keep your hands… to yourself, can you?"

Alec tightened his grip. "Now why would I do that? That's no fun at all." He leaned his head against hers, desperate to keep their connection.

"Might try… being… an adult?" she offered.

"Well, that's definitely no fun. I plan on annoying you with my childish behavior for years to come."

"Might not… have that long," she murmured.

"Nope," he said, despite the dread beginning to grip him. "Years and years," he said confidently. "We're going to date for a while. I'm going to pull a really annoying stunt to ask you to marry me. We'll move to a farm in Ohio and have 2.7 perfect little children. We'll get old and gray together. I've got it all planned."

"Ohio?" she asked, barely conscious.

"That's the part you picked up on? Seriously? Fine. I'll consider Indiana, but no promises."

"Farmers?"

"Ok, ok," he said. "We'll be super-spies and we'll teach the kids to be super-spies too and we'll start our own business and we'll make billions."

"Sounds… more reasonable," she said, and let out a little laugh. It must have hurt because she followed it with a tiny whimper of pain that made him want to hunt down every guard from that plant and bury them in the woods.

"_Another checkpoint_," Logan called back.

Alec fell silent, listening to Max's shallow breathing. Thankfully, the cop who took Logan's papers this time must have been in the Christmas spirit, because he barely looked at them before waving them through.

"Still with me, Max?" Alec asked.

"Mmm," was the only answer.

"Stay awake," he ordered. "I'm serious. I need…" He had to say it. The terror, the sheer panic, was beginning to creep up. "I need you to stay awake, Max. I can't handle being locked back here..." He felt bile beginning to boil up as he thought _with a body again_. "I can't be locked back here alone. I mean it. You stay awake."

"Sorry," she managed. "Had… plans… too."

"What plans?"

"Gonna… kiss you," she whispered. "Christmas… gift."

"Just what I wanted."

They arrived at another checkpoint, and there was nothing Alec could do but hold Max close and wait. She was so cold. She was still bleeding, and every second he could feel her life ticking away.

This checkpoint didn't go as smoothly as the last. The Sector Cop decided to check on Logan's paperwork, and questioned why he was coming in so much later than he was supposed to. Logan talked a good game, and he'd made sure his paperwork would check out, but it still took too long and Alec was ready to jump out of the trunk and shoot his way through the checkpoint if it would get them back to TC.

They were finally allowed through, but it was almost too late. Alec felt the difference when Max lost consciousness. Memories threatened to drown him. The darkness, the blood…

Alec felt himself drifting. He was in the trunk with Max, but he wasn't. He was in a place where he could hold Max and keep her safe, but could also keep his fragile sanity. He'd always griped about going into the sewers where the stench and the close quarters had bothered him, but it was nothing like this. It was nothing like holding a person he cared about while she slipped away. When 429 had died, it had been horrific, but he'd barely known the guy. This… Could he survive without her? Probably. But did he want to?

"_Alec? How's Max doing_?"

The words were distant, and Alec chose to ignore them.

In a fog, a daze… He was awake but not awake… Aware, but not.

The car stopped and the trunk opened. Someone was talking to him, maybe more than one someone. He got out of the trunk and turned to help Max. Someone touched his shoulder and he shrugged them off. He leaned in and gathered Max up in his arms. She was light and heavy at the same time, a gift and a burden. For the moment at least, she was his to protect.

Alec turned toward their makeshift infirmary, tightened his grip on Max, and ran.

* * *

Alec became aware of a piercingly bright light shining in his eye. He blinked and batted the light away with his hand.

"You with us?"

"Huh?" He blinked again and the person in front of him came into focus. "Gurney?"

Their resident medic sighed in relief. "Oh, good. You were starting to worry me."

He was a tall, baby-faced man who had been trained at Manticore to be a medic. Since it was difficult for them to leave TC, he'd been working with Dr. Shankar, as well as reading every medical text he could get his hands on. He wasn't a real doctor, but he was as close as they had. He'd earned his name because they were always catching him sleeping in the infirmary.

"Worry you?" Alec asked, still confused. He was sitting on a cot in the infirmary. He looked down and saw he was still in his jeans, but wearing a scrub type shirt. Someone must've changed him out of his blood-stained shirt.

"Did you hit your head? I didn't see any signs of an injury. You've just been awake and kind of zoned out."

"I'm fine," Alec said, shaking his head to wake himself up. "Max?"

Gurney smiled, and stepped to one side so Alec could see her lying on the neighboring cot. "She's good. The wound itself wasn't that bad actually, but she had a bleed. I got it stopped and Joshua gave her some blood. She perked right up."

"Where's Joshua?" Alec looked around, surprised the Big Guy wasn't sitting at Max's bedside.

"I sent him to bed. It's late and he'd given quite a bit of blood. I told him he could come back in the morning."

"How long have we been here?" Alec asked, appalled that he'd been so out of it.

"A couple of hours. It's almost midnight."

"You sure she's ok?"

In answer, Max opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. "About time you woke up."

She sounded groggy and he looked at Gurney who shrugged.

"I've been experimenting with elephant tranquilizers. They seem to work long enough for me to dig out bullets. She'll be back to normal in an hour or so." Gurney yawned. "So… if you two are good, I'm going to…" He pointed toward the door. "I'm going to head out. Been a long day."

Alec nodded and the medic ambled out, heading to his apartment. "Call me if you need me," he said over his shoulder.

Once he was gone, Alec took a deep breath and turned back to Max. She looked well enough, which went a long way to setting his mind at ease. "Gurney says you're drugged."

"Maybe," she said, one eyebrow raised. "Had to get the bullet out, so he broke out the good stuff."

Alec sat down at her hip and took her hand. He could still feel the flutters of panic left over from the car ride. He could feel the blood on his hands. He could feel her shaking, and how cold she'd been. Her hand was warmer now in his grip. "You ok?"

"Yup. Still no eggnog." Her brow furrowed and it was so endearingly cute that Alec had to smile.

"Next Christmas," he promised. "I don't care what kind of stupid job comes up, it will wait until after we get eggnog."

Max nodded in agreement. "Deal."

"So… now that your judgment is compromised thanks to the tranquilizers… Were you serious? About my Christmas gift?"

Max sat up and scooted back so she was propped against the wall at her back. She didn't release his hand though, and Alec moved along with her, scooting up the bed a little. Max cocked her head to the side and looked at him with a very serious expression, as if trying to make a decision. "I was still thinking about it."

"Something holding you back?" he asked lightly.

"Me." She shrugged. "You. Everything."

"Everything?" He pursed his lips. "Is this because Asha's pregnant? I mean, I can handle being a rebound thing, but I just want to know."

Max's eyes widened and her grip on his hand became painful. "_What_?"

"What, what?"

"She's _pregnant_?"

Oops. "Uh, yeah." Alec scratched at the back of his neck with his free hand. "I thought you knew. That's why he asked us to do the job instead of her and her S1W buddies."

"He said she was working on a _project_," she said, her voice headed toward shrill.

"Not what I'd call it exactly, but…" He let out his breath slowly. "Sorry," he finally said. This wasn't exactly the way he was hoping this conversation would go. They both fell silent and he glanced at her, unsure what else to say. Apparently, his hopes for a kiss under the mistletoe had just gone out of the window.

Max's squeezed his hand to get his attention. "Hey," she said. "It's ok. You just surprised me is all."

"Still sorry. I just figured you could smell the difference last time we ran into her."

"Doesn't matter." She gave him a lopsided smile, reminding Alec that she was drugged out of her gourd. It was better than a truth serum. "I'm… happy for them."

"Oh, really," he said in disbelief.

"Yup. Moving on. I'm… yeah. Me too. We're moving on. All of us. It's good." She nodded along with each phrase. "Although I kind of want to kick him for making me find out like this. Just _tell_ me. Working on a _project_." She rolled her eyes. "Still… Good for them."

He could see she meant it. It was as if the news had freed her somehow. She looked… lighter, happier.

Max sighed and looked at him, a little smile playing over her full lips. "So… where were we?"

Alec felt a smirk forming and tried to keep a straight face. "We were talking about my Christmas gift," he reminded her. "Don't know if you noticed, but it's almost midnight. Christmas is about over."

Max leaned forward. With her free hand she crooked her finger to tell him to move closer. "I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" Alec leaned forward as well, his mouth only a hairsbreadth from hers.

"I'm not drugged anymore," she whispered. "It wore off a good half hour ago before you woke up."

"What?" He began to pull back, but she grabbed his shirtfront and kept him close.

Max smiled. "Almost midnight, remember? Time's almost up."

Alec grinned, Christmas cheer filling him and making his heart swell with pure joy. He'd been patient. He'd been careful not to push too hard. Still, he'd wanted this woman since… well… for far too long.

"Pretty sure this was going to be my Christmas gift to you, too," he whispered.

"Better hurry then," she suggested. "Last minute gifts and all that."

Alec laughed. "Merry Christmas, Max."

"Merry Christmas, Alec," she said, and kissed him.

* * *

Merry Christmas, everybody!


End file.
